In The Custom of the Country, Wharton presents a broad panorama of life in the United States and France during the first decade of the twentieth century. She uses a variety of techniques to develop her material, so her novel is not easily classifiable, but the genres that are most appropriate are the picaresque novel and the novel of manners in which emphasis is placed on the customs and values of different social classes. In the picaresque novel of the eighteenth century, a male rogue moved through a series of adventures in which he was always triumphant.

There frequently was an element of burlesque in which the characters he encountered were presented in broad strokes emphasizing their foibles. These elements can be seen in The Custom of the Country, only the picaro has been replaced by a picara. Undine Spragg, with her tireless energy, passes through a number...